“They say to sleep when the baby sleeps, but I decided to make a stop-motion animation music video instead,” says Julia Sanders. “I’m not sure what that says about me. I probably need to learn how to rest more, but I think it also speaks to the way you must make your creative life a priority as a mother, and also adapt to how it’s different than it used to be.”
The Philadelphia-born, Asheville, N.C.-based singer/songwriter wrote “Woman In Between” shortly after her first child arrived. “I found myself in the transition of letting go of my old life and trying to figure out who I was as a mother,” says Sanders, who came into her own amid New Orleans’ hardscrabble alt-county and R&B scenes. “I don’t think anyone can prepare you for the kind of changes you go through and how much it really gets to the core of who you are to transform your sense of self.”
“Woman In Between” is an alluring teaser for Sanders’ new self-released album, Morning Star, which was produced by the Deslondes’ John James Tourville, an old friend from the Big Easy. With its taut personal narratives and meticulously crafted tunes, Morning Star serves as a soundtrack of sorts to the multifaceted, emotionally charged transition into motherhood. Sanders’ daughter is now in preschool and nursing an obsession with outer space.
“It’s something we talk about constantly in our house,” says Sanders of the inspiration for the video. “The idea of this character traveling into space and evolving into something different felt like the perfect way to play off the theme of the song. I’ve always wanted to try stop-motion animation, so I just dove in and figured it out. It was something I could work on for 20 minutes or an hour, then put it away for a few days until I had time again. The rest of the footage my husband and I shot with a simple projector set up in our basement. I really love how it pairs with the animation.”
We are proud to premiere “Woman In Between” today at MAGNET.
—Hobart Rowland
